F*ck Me I’m Famous.<\/p>\n
That’s what it says on the billboard into town.<\/p>\n
You’d think it’s Los Angeles in the seventies, with billboards for records flanking the roadway.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s no concert recession in Ibiza, then again, are these giant raves\/clubs actually concerts?<\/p>\n
A little backstory.<\/p>\n
Felice has a brother.\u00c2\u00a0 Who comes to Ibiza for two months every year.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s implored us to come, said we’d love it, but the family declined the invitation until this year, when Chris is having a landmark birthday.<\/p>\n
We started in London.\u00c2\u00a0 Well, not everybody, just me and Felice.\u00c2\u00a0 You see you can’t fly direct from L.A. to Spain, never mind Ibiza, so why not fly where we have friends?\u00c2\u00a0 I.e. Richard Griffiths and Harry Magee of Modest! Management.\u00c2\u00a0 They represent all the X Factor stars.\u00c2\u00a0 Along with Alison Moyet…\u00c2\u00a0 I was introduced to her at the party, in Richard’s backyard.<\/p>\n
Just a coincidence.\u00c2\u00a0 That the Modest! garden party was scheduled for the day of our arrival.<\/p>\n
One thing you’ve got to know about London in the summer time.\u00c2\u00a0 It never gets dark!\u00c2\u00a0 Really, in the middle of the night, you go out and the sky is still blue.\u00c2\u00a0 As for the sun going down, when you need to turn the headlamps on in your car…that occurs about 10:30.\u00c2\u00a0 To tell you the truth, I felt like Al Pacino in "Insomnia"…\u00c2\u00a0 It starts to get to you.\u00c2\u00a0 Like Barbra Streisand asking for rain in L.A., I just wanted a little darkness.<\/p>\n
Well, the creme de la creme of the British music industry was assembled at this garden party, oh so English.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s the same in the U.K., but different.\u00c2\u00a0 The labels are no longer the heads of the vampire squid, and the concert business is not foolproof.\u00c2\u00a0 But as Nick Gatfield told me two days later, music is in the U.K. DNA.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s not like America, where everybody’s moved on to the Net.\u00c2\u00a0 Hell, it’s truly not like the U.S., everybody still reads the newspaper, the physical one!<\/p>\n
We went to Wimbledon…\u00c2\u00a0 The grass is not as fast as they tell you.\u00c2\u00a0 With a Grounds Pass, you can amble amongst the dozen odd courts and take in the early round play.\u00c2\u00a0 Pretty fascinating, you can truly be up close and personal.\u00c2\u00a0 Makes you want to rally…but not in this heat!<\/p>\n
The next day we went to the War Rooms.\u00c2\u00a0 Where Churchill and company worked underground during World War II.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/p>\n
\nChurchill War Rooms<\/a><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\nI love this shit.\u00c2\u00a0 So different from today, truly life and death.\u00c2\u00a0 Utterly fascinating.<\/p>\n
And then the meeting with the aforementioned Mr. Gatfield.\u00c2\u00a0 Which, unfortunately, was off the record.\u00c2\u00a0 But I can tell you that EMI is doing very innovative deals.\u00c2\u00a0 And rather than try to compete with Universal, et al, they’re going their own way.\u00c2\u00a0 Will they have enough rope to complete their mission?\u00c2\u00a0 I believe Guy Hands injected more capital to get them to the lawsuit, which I think Terra Firma’s going to win, or settle.\u00c2\u00a0 Then again, when that’s complete, I expect them to sell the label to Warner.\u00c2\u00a0 We’ll have to just wait this one out.<\/p>\n
Then on to Madrid.<\/p>\n
Makes you hate L.A.<\/p>\n
Because, just like London and Paris, Madrid has a PHENOMENAL underground.\u00c2\u00a0 You can get anywhere in minutes.<\/p>\n
We went to the Prado.\u00c2\u00a0 Saw Hieronymus Bosch’s "Garden Of Earthly Delights"!\u00c2\u00a0 Almost didn’t seem real.\u00c2\u00a0 And to think he painted this five hundred years ago!\u00c2\u00a0 A heathen like this would be excoriated by today’s Christian Right.<\/p>\n
And the cars!\u00c2\u00a0 All tiny, with weird shapes.\u00c2\u00a0 Especially the Citroen with the back like a shelf.<\/p>\n
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